Friday, October 19, 2012

Starting rumors can help you gain more friends

Starting rumors can help you gain more friends. Psychologists suggest that rumors, scandal and defamation of others is what brings two people closer. Professors at the University of Oklahoma had dozens of subjects "eavesdrop" on a recorded conversation between two fictional characters. The group was then asked to converse and chat about what they liked or disliked about these two characters.

The scientists found people felt closer if they agreed in their antipathy towards either character. A common fondness created less of a bond. "It appears that people's folk theories about friendship formation are amiss," the researchers wrote in the journal Personal Relationships. "There seems to be something especially delicious about the process of sharing our grievances about other people."